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“A planned ‘hero’s homecoming’ Formula 1 street demo for Williams driver Pastor Maldonado in the Venezuelan capital Caracas was cut short on Sunday when he spun and damaged the car on only his second lap.”

“The tax break is for Circuit of the Americas providing habitat for doves, songbirds, rabbits and squirrels. That’s a lot of money to help the squirrels gather their nuts. I have squirrels in my yard ?óÔé¼ÔÇØ and a free-range Yorkshire terrier. How come I don’t get a tax break?”

“When I joined Frank full-time in 1985 as manager of sponsorship and public affairs, Frank?óÔé¼Ôäós first instruction was disarmingly poignant: ‘One rule here, Peter. We never, ever approach the sponsors or investors of any of our rivals. We?óÔé¼Ôäóll only go after new companies or sponsors who have been in the sport and pulled out for whatever reason.'”

“For this year?óÔé¼Ôäós festival, which takes place on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th, Lotus will be bringing along its product range, some of which will be running on the circuit, while Classic Team Lotus will have a selection of classic F1 cars from the past, along with privately- owned cars and action on the Brands Hatch rally stage from Sunbeams and more.”

Comment of the day

Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen fully deserve to be in better cars for next season. Its a shame really to see where they are now, when they should be in a midfield team at least. They have proved that they have talent when they have been given a half-decent car. Glock did well with Toyota and to secure two podiums in 2009 was a great achievement. He is quite level-headed and consistent which makes him a good option for teams looking for another driver next year.

Kovalainen is a race winner and has so much potential. Like Glock he is reliable and has proved he can handle the pressure of being with a solid-points scoring team. Even though he played second fiddle to Hamilton in 2008, he scored points for the team and helped them in the constructors’.

They have both been with backmarker teams for two-and-a-half years now and have not got a single point between them in that space of time. They must be desperate for a better drive next season.ShaneB457 (@Shaneb12345678910)

89 comments on Maldonado demo cut short by spin

I wonder if PDVSA and Chavez are considering removing their financial support to Maldonado. I guess it’s important for them to be involved with F1, maybe they’re using the sport as a platform for some other stuff but this really doesn’t look like welcome publicity anymore.

ChavezÂ´s interest in having Pastor there is simple…. itÂ´s one way to make the people feel “proud” about something but, most importantly, itÂ´s to keep them distracted. ItÂ´s like soccer in third world countries… the country can be on the brink of disaster but they donÂ´t care as long as their national team does well… Same deal with Maldona-doh…
Plus, it sort of cleans the image of the country sort of lie the Bahrein race did also….

@girts I guess no, they are suppose to be in electoral year, and having Maldonado running and crashing made people talk about other thing that Chavez`s sickness…

But the comments in spanish are really funny in thosde videos, even the people in there sayin that Maldonado always crash, I don`t suppose that British people will say the same about Hamilton or Button…

HAHA someone put Pastor in a padded room!! I’m never one for bashing F1 drivers, it’s not easy to get into F1 let alone win a race but when are Williams going to realise Maldonado is not all that?? Please put someone in the seat that will cherish it, im thinking a Heikki or a Timo?

I have just spent the last ten minutes howling with laughter. I mean you just couldn’t write it – Maldonado crashes in a demonstration. We have some pretty funny comedy series here in Britain, Only Fools, Vicar of Dibley, Fawlty Towers and the Office to name just a few, but they would but they would appear positively starched and unfunny in comparison to the inevitable upcoming Venezuelan TV series – The Maladies of Maldonado. Michael McIntyre? David Jason? Jimmy Carr? Ricky Gervais? Rowan Atkinson? Forget them. Pastor Maldonado is the new comic on the scene. Maldonado has used F1 simply as a stage for his comic career – so I wonder what his next move will be? Crashing into the back of the saftey car? Crashing in the carpark in his roadcar? I just cannot wait.

Pooooor Maldonado! I won’t rib him too much for it, I went to see JB in Manchester last year and he managed to stall his McLaren!

Kovalainen and Glock are both better than the cars they’re driving, however, I don’t feel much in the way of sympathy for them. They knew what they were getting into and how hard it would be. If they’re expecting points already then I think they need to evaluate exactly what they’re doing.

I have it from secret sources, the true nature of PM crash at the demo.

Seems there was a tail wind, and the air was overtaking Pastore’s car. Unfortunatly, he got enveloped in the “Red Mist” that sometimes overtakes drivers, and decided to take his normal course of action… he decided to crash into it.

Air, lacking much density was extremely compliant, and allowed the car to pass right through, thus impacting the curbing, and disappointing all his home fans.